Retirement Planning Conroe TX

Planning ahead for retirement is vital for people of all ages who wish to be financially independent once they opt to retire. Money can be allocated to investments or set aside in savings plans in order to avoid being used too early, though investments do involve some degree of risk. Many people save for retirement through employer-sponsored defined contribution plans, such as IRAs, 401(k)s, and profit sharing plans. Other types of plans and DIY retirement planning are also options and all of the available avenues are generally characterized by tax advantages.

Retirement Planning

By: Jonas ZamoraJonas Zamora is a Certified Financial PlannerTM professional. You may contact him at jzamora@zacks.com

Closing in on retirement?

Are you closing in on retirement? If your goal is to retire in the next five years, you are in that critical stage in the retirement planning cycle. You have to take care of details like your 401(k) distributions or rollover, exercise of stock options, pension distributions, and when to take social security payments. Then there's figuring out what you need to draw out of your investments when that big day arrives. What you do in the first five years after retirement will also play a key role over the following 25-30 years.

First, let's discuss your first steps five years before going off into retirement bliss:

1. Put more money away. I read an article that says we are saving too much for retirement. That is bunk! Let's say your retirement target is 65 years of age. Most of you will be able to and should contribute extra to your 401(k) after reaching 50 years of age. That amount is $15,500 per year plus catch up amount of $5,000. Over a 15-year time frame for someone who is 50 years old today, assuming a 7% annual return, the savings by age 65 amounts to over $500,000. Without the extra $5000 in contributions, you would only have around $376,000.

2. Over the last year to two years before retirement, consider being more conservative in your 401(k). Don't leave a majority of these assets in employer stock! If the market takes a nosedive, you still have a great base to invest and live off of when you retire. Diversify.

3. Remember to exercise those in-the-money stock options. Many folks get so excited about their last day at the office, they forget about exercising the valuable stock options while still profitable.

4. Place money in an emergency fund with 1-2 years worth of living expenses in a cash or CD account....

Debt consolidation is one option for getting out from under a large amount of debt. People who find themselves paying off a number of loans can consolidate their debt by combining them all into one large loan with a single interest rate, which is often lower than the interest rates of the original loans. Another consideration for those thinking about debt consolidation is consolidating unsecured debt into secured debt. Unsecured debt is preferable to secured debt, which is usually secured against a home. The length of time for paying off a debt consolidation loan is generally long and because of this, those taking out such loans will end up paying more in the end.

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